3 things Browns fans should be thankful for about the 2020 season
By Dan Gilinsky
No. 2: The Browns not beating themselves for once…
The second thing us Browns fans should be especially thankful for is the Browns actually not beating themselves for once. At this juncture, Cleveland is fourth in the league in turnover margin at plus-six.
Frankly, though the Browns defense has had their share of issues/mishaps, they still have come up with some clutch turnovers. That’s definitely aided Baker Mayfield and company, too.
Cleveland’s defense is third in takeaways, and one can absolutely thank Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and, to some degree, Olivier Vernon and Sheldon Richardson (for their pressures) for that to a large extent. Of course, we’ll have to see how the Browns do sans Garrett, in relation to this week’s game at the Jacksonville Jaguars (COVID-19) and more so for seemingly a few weeks, sans Ward (calf strain), of which DPD’s Nick Pedone hit on.
Moreover, when factoring in the team in this sense, it’s been refreshing that the Browns have been in the middle of the pack penalty-wise. Is that particularly noteworthy?
No, but when considering Cleveland has had nearly two less penalties per game as compared to 2019, when only three teams averaged more penalties per contest, that’s been a positive, as opposed to the Freddie Kitchens-led Browns. And we all remember the disastrous, undisciplined penalties that club was proned to having, which were back-breakers.
To further drive the point home, with how us Browns fans have seen Cleveland beat themselves for so long, we should be very thankful that this team has actually benefitted from opponents’ mistakes for once. Who knew that was possible with how seasons have been since Cleveland’s return?
Moving on to No. 3, we’ll give Mayfield a pat on the back for one key aspect of his game.